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Rob Ford’s war leaves Torontonians losers: Hume

For the Ford brothers, politics is a battle that never ends.

For Rob and Doug Ford, politics is a battle that never ends, Christopher Hume writes about an endless series of encounters waged against those who dare disagree with their view of civic politics. (Toronto Star) | Order this photo

“War,” the military theorist famously wrote, “is a continuation of politics by other means.”

Now, it seems, it’s the other way around. In Canada today, politics is a continuation of war by other means.

In Ottawa, we have Prime Minister Stephen Harper slowly but surely destroying the precepts of a country that likes to think of itself as a beacon of tolerance, a global peace-keeper and all-round international Boy Scout. Instead, Harper and his Conservatives would turn us into a nation of rich versus poor, a people more interested in plundering the land and playing the bully rather than stopping the bullies.

Harper opts for attack ads and propagandistic half-truths, the classic weapons of modern warfare.

But before the fighting can begin, there needs to be an enemy. For Harper, that can be anything from environmental charities and researchers to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and ordinary Canadians.

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In Toronto, of course, we have Rob and Doug Ford, brothers for whom politics is a battle that never ends. You win or you lose, live or die. In their us-and-them world view, non-Fords are either allies or enemies. There’s nothing in between. Theirs is an endless series of encounters waged against anyone and everyone who dares disagree with their apocalyptic view of civic politics.

When Rob warns that the mayoral campaign just getting under way will be “a war,” he means just that. Already, Ford and his foot soldiers have drawn up lists of those who must be (electorally) killed or allowed to live.

The siege mentality, if not outright paranoia, according to which the Fords conduct themselves allows for no nuance. The Fords exists in a constant state of outrage, anger and resentment. If you’re not for them, you’re against them. Whether it’s Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair or some pathetic drug addict and former brother-in-law like Scott MacIntryre beaten to a pulp in a jail cell, the Fords respond to perceived threats with maximum force.

Rob Ford’s take-no-prisoners attitude was on full display Thursday afternoon when he publically demanded Blair apologize to him. This after having referred to Blair as a “c---sucker.”

In the meantime, Brother Doug, angry at the chief for having spoken of his “disappointment” with the mayor after seeing video of him smoking what appeared to be crack cocaine, has launched his own attack on Blair. Among the charges hurled at the beleaguered chief, Doug accused him of “breaking the law” and of going “rogue.”

In their search for an enemy, the Fords have lashed out at any number of people, former allies and community leaders among them. Blair certainly hasn’t distinguished himself as police chief, or heaped honour on the force, but in this particular matter, he has been a model of probity.

For the Fords, that only makes him all the more powerful an opponent.

Ford’s only exceptions are the “poor people” upon whom he and his brother rely on election day. In return for their votes, supporters get a phone call, a knock on the door, a fridge magnet and the lucky ones, an autograph or a selfie. Now that Rob Ford is famous, a celebrity and star of late-night U.S. television, most are happy to oblige.

And so the war rages with inevitable consequences. Toronto has become a battleground, its residents and reputation are collateral damage. As the fighting continues, however, and resources are depleted, chances of anything but the most Pyrrhic of victories grow ever slimmer. By the time all falls quiet on the Toronto front, it will be hard to tell winners from losers.

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